Past
Until recently, the Senpet were the premier power in and around the Burning Sands. With great stocks of wealth and the most powerful military in the region, the Senpet came into the century with great hope for the future. When the Great Drought struck it left the Empire suffering deeply and brought their future into question. Their need eventually turns them to seek out the City on the River and it’s Immortal Caliph. An alliance is formed between Hensatti and the Immortal Caliph, the Senpet will have unprecedented access to the city, able to buy as many stores as they wish and gaining access to the City’s water supply. And in return they must leave a permanent garrison within the city. The sudden explosion of Senpet owned stores and goods is not seen so kindly by everyone, the Dahabi, the longtime masters of business within the city, feel threatened by this sudden and unexpected flurry of Senpet activity that threatens their monopoly on Medinaat al-Salaam. The Silver Tongue begins to take brutal measures to rein in the Senpet businesses with limited success.
On their way to Medinaat al-Salaam, the Senpet garrison, led by the acclaimed general Abresax, encounters the exiled Scorpion and, facing a large, armed force approaching Medinaat al-Salaam, attack. The Scorpion forces, weak and exhausted from their journey, are easily routed by the Senpet force. The Scorpion Clan leader, known to the Senpet as Selqet, is taken into Abresax’s custody while the remaining Scorpion are enslaved and escorted to the Senpet controlled mines. The Moto, feeling an obligation to their distant cousins, mount an assault to break the Senpet force and free the Scorpion but are thrown back in defeat as their leader, Gaheris, disappears into the sands during the fighting. This marks the beginning of what would turn into a bloody war between the Senpet and the Moto that would leave many innocents on both sides dead.
The arrival of the Yodotai is not met with much fanfare by the Senpet. They watch this new group but do not think much of their small numbers present. When they begin calling for the release of their slaves, the Senpet laugh and inform the Yodotai that they will consider their request in the fullness of time. When the Yodotai join the Erb’a Alliance and supply the Moto with massive siege engines, the Senpet begin to pay more attention and prepare for a battle. The Senpet, up until now begrudgingly accepted by the city’s populace, now become one of their best chances of survival as the Battle for the Jewel begins. The brave Senpet are pushed back as the walls crumble and the Moto, Yodotai, and Ra’Shari pour into the city. It is only a bolt of fire from the heavens that shatters the assault and saves the city, leaving the battered Senpet to lick their wounds as many of their slaves are taken away from them and given their freedom.
Present
After the battle for Medinaat al-Salaam, it was apparent that war between the Yodotai and the Senpet was inevitable. More Yodotai seep into Senpet lands, and while many are dispatched by various plots some return home as both sides continue to gear up for the conflict. When war comes, eight years after the their first confrontation, it is an unmitigated disaster for the Senpet. They were not a people of war, and while they maintained a large army, it could not compare to the size and training of the armies the Yodotai possessed. Only the quick thinking of the General of the Senpet at the time saved the army from routing completely and leaving the path to the Eye of the Desert open for Yodotai forces. The Senpet fell back though, and were left to reconsider their position and how to best defeat such a massive force.
The Senpet adapted, changed tactics, and quickly marshaled up more armies to counteract the Yodotai’s numbers. The war raged for twenty years, with both sides pushing and falling back. The Senpet were put against odds they had never faced before and as the years rolled by it became apparent that they were losing. The fighting grew more desperate, heroes and villains on both sides met their ends and new ones took their places. Keseth began to take a more and more public role in the fight against the Yodotai, all while refusing to use the Book of the Dead to even the odds. Meskhenet, a man who started as a mere soldier, rose in the ranks to become a respected general. At the Battle of the Last Cataract, the two forces meet again, and though the fighting is close for a time the Senpet are defeated and routed from the field. It is the last field engagement of the war and shortly afterwords the Eye of the Desert is besieged and taken. Hensatti, the last Pharaoh, is killed in the final assault on the palace.
When the Yodotai demand that the Senpet give up their gods, they revolt. The revolts last for nearly 5 months, but each revolt is put down more brutally than the last and eventually the vast majority of Senpet merely accept these new gods. But the underground rebellion continues, breathed to life by Keseth and Bekhten. After several more years, it becomes apparent that the rebel leadership cannot stay in Senpet lands as the Yodotai are getting closer to them every day, so they flee to Medinaat al-Salaam and leave Meskhenet in charge of the rebellion in the Homeland. The rebellion finds itself mostly welcome in the City of Peace, mostly because they oppose the Yodotai.
The situation the Senpet find themselves in has gotten better within the city however. The rebellion’s inability to control Keket cost them some of their friends within the city, especially after solving the matter was left to the Ebonites on the brink of a Yodotai march on the Senpet District. Still, Keket’s death at the hands of one of his nominal kinsmen, the Templar Setepsi, has calmed matters down in the city considerably and the Senpet Rebellion was happy to let the heat die off and let their enemies forget about them for a time. They used their time wisely, gaining friends and preparing to strike, and at the Summer Court of the Sultan they did so against a foe who was too caught up in their own dramas to be prepared. The standing of the Yodotai fell in the City of Stories from what had before been their peak. Increased Senpet presence in the City Guard put pressure on those Yodotai who had joined part time and the Senpet’s enemy was soundly beaten back, though not defeated.
Future
The Senpet are currently experiencing good fortunes. Their stock in the city has risen with the death of Keket and the disbandment of many of his followers, and their political strikes against the Yodotai have as of yet had no response from their enemy. The Senpet are ready to continue pushing their advantage in the hopes that they may be able to convince the Sultanate to throw the Yodotai out of the city entirely.
Leaders
Leader of the Rebellion
Keseth is perhaps the most well known man in the entire Burning Sands, and perhaps the most well liked. Either by chance or fate, it was Keseth who stumbled upon not only the Book of the Dead, but the heart of the Immortal Caliph. Though he did now know what they were at the time, something told him that these two artifacts were immensely important and so he grabbed them as he fled. Soon after, Keseth destroyed the Immortal Caliph’s heart, killing her and and ending her reign of terror. In the process, Keseth gained the favor of many influential people.
Keseth is not a prodigy like others whose names are known in the city. He has simply worked with an incredibly diligence that few others can match and his training has paid off. Refusing to surrender to time or ease of purpose. It was this attitude that made him join with the Rebellion after the fall of the Senpet, and it was his hero persona that quickly made others defer to him, making Keseth the de facto leader of the Rebellion. He has done well for them thus far. Cautiously avoiding ambushes, calling off plots that would take away too much manpower, and never forgetting his goal of a returned homeland. But no matter what he does, the Senpet seem to lose more ground every year. Every year less discontent join the ranks of the rebellion and more of their people die. Every year, the whispers of power locked away in the Book of the Dead that he keeps near his person grows a little bit stronger.
Shield of the Senpet
When Bekhten awakes each morning, he find himself wondering if the gods have abandoned the Senpet Empire. It is not an odd question for a man who was raised from birth to worship the Ten Thousand, protect the Empire, and to serve the Pharaoh in all ways until his dying breath. In the last fifteen years he has seen the temples of his gods burned, his empire destroyed, and his Pharaoh slain before him. Before the war, Bekhten had served as the Pharaoh’s guard for many years. Staying silent as she allied herself with the Immortal Caliph. When the war began, Bekhten sat in the Palace protecting his charge while the brave armies of the Senpet fought and died.
When at last the end came, Bekhten had to do the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He had stood silent as his lord allied herself with a monster, he had paced the halls of the palace as other Senpet died in his place. Now he was forced to abandon the charge that he had sacrificed so much for. Her final order was to save himself so he could see the Yodotai overthrown. Bekhten followed the command of his Pharaoh, loyal to the end. Since then, Bekhten allied himself with the rebellion and has seen more bloody combat than any other man in the rebellion. He is perhaps the most wanted man in the entire Yodotai Empire. If Keseth is the brains behind the rebellion, Bekhten is the heart. While he continues the fight, others cannot lose hope for victory.
Protector of the Homeland
Meskhenet has been burdened with perhaps the least enviable job in the Burning Sands. He commands what remains of the rebellion in Senpet lands themselves. If the situation in the City of Peace looks desperate, matters within the occupied Senpet lands are even worse. The Yodotai crack down on rebels is just as strong as ever, so while there may be more rebels, they do not have the free reign that they enjoy in the City of Peace. Meskhenet is a good leader and a resourceful man however. He joined the war effort when the war began to look inevitable, and many credit his actions of forming a guerrilla unit with slowing the progress of the Yodotai legions.
Meskhenet may be the only reason that the Senpet rebellion still exists in the homeland. His careful use of resources and his almost sixth sense of where to strike gives the man a legendary quality among his soldiers. The truth is far simpler. Meskhenet has an extensive spy network that includes several blackmailed Yodotai officials. For now, he manages to skirt the line of being merely an annoyance and being a threat that must be destroyed, and for the time being it looks as though Meskhenet is happy to stay there.
History
PastUntil recently, the Senpet were the premier power in and around the Burning Sands. With great stocks of wealth and the most powerful military in the region, the Senpet came into the century with great hope for the future. When the Great Drought struck it left the Empire suffering deeply and brought their future into question. Their need eventually turns them to seek out the City on the River and it’s Immortal Caliph. An alliance is formed between Hensatti and the Immortal Caliph, the Senpet will have unprecedented access to the city, able to buy as many stores as they wish and gaining access to the City’s water supply. And in return they must leave a permanent garrison within the city. The sudden explosion of Senpet owned stores and goods is not seen so kindly by everyone, the Dahabi, the longtime masters of business within the city, feel threatened by this sudden and unexpected flurry of Senpet activity that threatens their monopoly on Medinaat al-Salaam. The Silver Tongue begins to take brutal measures to rein in the Senpet businesses with limited success.
On their way to Medinaat al-Salaam, the Senpet garrison, led by the acclaimed general Abresax, encounters the exiled Scorpion and, facing a large, armed force approaching Medinaat al-Salaam, attack. The Scorpion forces, weak and exhausted from their journey, are easily routed by the Senpet force. The Scorpion Clan leader, known to the Senpet as Selqet, is taken into Abresax’s custody while the remaining Scorpion are enslaved and escorted to the Senpet controlled mines. The Moto, feeling an obligation to their distant cousins, mount an assault to break the Senpet force and free the Scorpion but are thrown back in defeat as their leader, Gaheris, disappears into the sands during the fighting. This marks the beginning of what would turn into a bloody war between the Senpet and the Moto that would leave many innocents on both sides dead.
The arrival of the Yodotai is not met with much fanfare by the Senpet. They watch this new group but do not think much of their small numbers present. When they begin calling for the release of their slaves, the Senpet laugh and inform the Yodotai that they will consider their request in the fullness of time. When the Yodotai join the Erb’a Alliance and supply the Moto with massive siege engines, the Senpet begin to pay more attention and prepare for a battle. The Senpet, up until now begrudgingly accepted by the city’s populace, now become one of their best chances of survival as the Battle for the Jewel begins. The brave Senpet are pushed back as the walls crumble and the Moto, Yodotai, and Ra’Shari pour into the city. It is only a bolt of fire from the heavens that shatters the assault and saves the city, leaving the battered Senpet to lick their wounds as many of their slaves are taken away from them and given their freedom.
Present
After the battle for Medinaat al-Salaam, it was apparent that war between the Yodotai and the Senpet was inevitable. More Yodotai seep into Senpet lands, and while many are dispatched by various plots some return home as both sides continue to gear up for the conflict. When war comes, eight years after the their first confrontation, it is an unmitigated disaster for the Senpet. They were not a people of war, and while they maintained a large army, it could not compare to the size and training of the armies the Yodotai possessed. Only the quick thinking of the General of the Senpet at the time saved the army from routing completely and leaving the path to the Eye of the Desert open for Yodotai forces. The Senpet fell back though, and were left to reconsider their position and how to best defeat such a massive force.
The Senpet adapted, changed tactics, and quickly marshaled up more armies to counteract the Yodotai’s numbers. The war raged for twenty years, with both sides pushing and falling back. The Senpet were put against odds they had never faced before and as the years rolled by it became apparent that they were losing. The fighting grew more desperate, heroes and villains on both sides met their ends and new ones took their places. Keseth began to take a more and more public role in the fight against the Yodotai, all while refusing to use the Book of the Dead to even the odds. Meskhenet, a man who started as a mere soldier, rose in the ranks to become a respected general. At the Battle of the Last Cataract, the two forces meet again, and though the fighting is close for a time the Senpet are defeated and routed from the field. It is the last field engagement of the war and shortly afterwords the Eye of the Desert is besieged and taken. Hensatti, the last Pharaoh, is killed in the final assault on the palace.
When the Yodotai demand that the Senpet give up their gods, they revolt. The revolts last for nearly 5 months, but each revolt is put down more brutally than the last and eventually the vast majority of Senpet merely accept these new gods. But the underground rebellion continues, breathed to life by Keseth and Bekhten. After several more years, it becomes apparent that the rebel leadership cannot stay in Senpet lands as the Yodotai are getting closer to them every day, so they flee to Medinaat al-Salaam and leave Meskhenet in charge of the rebellion in the Homeland. The rebellion finds itself mostly welcome in the City of Peace, mostly because they oppose the Yodotai.
The situation the Senpet find themselves in has gotten better within the city however. The rebellion’s inability to control Keket cost them some of their friends within the city, especially after solving the matter was left to the Ebonites on the brink of a Yodotai march on the Senpet District. Still, Keket’s death at the hands of one of his nominal kinsmen, the Templar Setepsi, has calmed matters down in the city considerably and the Senpet Rebellion was happy to let the heat die off and let their enemies forget about them for a time. They used their time wisely, gaining friends and preparing to strike, and at the Summer Court of the Sultan they did so against a foe who was too caught up in their own dramas to be prepared. The standing of the Yodotai fell in the City of Stories from what had before been their peak. Increased Senpet presence in the City Guard put pressure on those Yodotai who had joined part time and the Senpet’s enemy was soundly beaten back, though not defeated.
Future
The Senpet are currently experiencing good fortunes. Their stock in the city has risen with the death of Keket and the disbandment of many of his followers, and their political strikes against the Yodotai have as of yet had no response from their enemy. The Senpet are ready to continue pushing their advantage in the hopes that they may be able to convince the Sultanate to throw the Yodotai out of the city entirely.
Leaders
Leader of the RebellionKeseth is perhaps the most well known man in the entire Burning Sands, and perhaps the most well liked. Either by chance or fate, it was Keseth who stumbled upon not only the Book of the Dead, but the heart of the Immortal Caliph. Though he did now know what they were at the time, something told him that these two artifacts were immensely important and so he grabbed them as he fled. Soon after, Keseth destroyed the Immortal Caliph’s heart, killing her and and ending her reign of terror. In the process, Keseth gained the favor of many influential people.
Keseth is not a prodigy like others whose names are known in the city. He has simply worked with an incredibly diligence that few others can match and his training has paid off. Refusing to surrender to time or ease of purpose. It was this attitude that made him join with the Rebellion after the fall of the Senpet, and it was his hero persona that quickly made others defer to him, making Keseth the de facto leader of the Rebellion. He has done well for them thus far. Cautiously avoiding ambushes, calling off plots that would take away too much manpower, and never forgetting his goal of a returned homeland. But no matter what he does, the Senpet seem to lose more ground every year. Every year less discontent join the ranks of the rebellion and more of their people die. Every year, the whispers of power locked away in the Book of the Dead that he keeps near his person grows a little bit stronger.
Shield of the Senpet
When Bekhten awakes each morning, he find himself wondering if the gods have abandoned the Senpet Empire. It is not an odd question for a man who was raised from birth to worship the Ten Thousand, protect the Empire, and to serve the Pharaoh in all ways until his dying breath. In the last fifteen years he has seen the temples of his gods burned, his empire destroyed, and his Pharaoh slain before him. Before the war, Bekhten had served as the Pharaoh’s guard for many years. Staying silent as she allied herself with the Immortal Caliph. When the war began, Bekhten sat in the Palace protecting his charge while the brave armies of the Senpet fought and died.
When at last the end came, Bekhten had to do the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He had stood silent as his lord allied herself with a monster, he had paced the halls of the palace as other Senpet died in his place. Now he was forced to abandon the charge that he had sacrificed so much for. Her final order was to save himself so he could see the Yodotai overthrown. Bekhten followed the command of his Pharaoh, loyal to the end. Since then, Bekhten allied himself with the rebellion and has seen more bloody combat than any other man in the rebellion. He is perhaps the most wanted man in the entire Yodotai Empire. If Keseth is the brains behind the rebellion, Bekhten is the heart. While he continues the fight, others cannot lose hope for victory.
Protector of the Homeland
Meskhenet has been burdened with perhaps the least enviable job in the Burning Sands. He commands what remains of the rebellion in Senpet lands themselves. If the situation in the City of Peace looks desperate, matters within the occupied Senpet lands are even worse. The Yodotai crack down on rebels is just as strong as ever, so while there may be more rebels, they do not have the free reign that they enjoy in the City of Peace. Meskhenet is a good leader and a resourceful man however. He joined the war effort when the war began to look inevitable, and many credit his actions of forming a guerrilla unit with slowing the progress of the Yodotai legions.
Meskhenet may be the only reason that the Senpet rebellion still exists in the homeland. His careful use of resources and his almost sixth sense of where to strike gives the man a legendary quality among his soldiers. The truth is far simpler. Meskhenet has an extensive spy network that includes several blackmailed Yodotai officials. For now, he manages to skirt the line of being merely an annoyance and being a threat that must be destroyed, and for the time being it looks as though Meskhenet is happy to stay there.